“…The flower scent is nice, right?”

Aiden snorted at the casual question.

What flower scent…. The hydrangeas decorating the banquet hall and garden were sterile flowers with no fragrance.

But the reason he snorted at Derrick’s words wasn’t actually because of that. It was a reaction that came because he felt the flower’s scent wasn’t ‘nice’ but ‘overwhelming.’

Since childhood, Aiden had hated the ‘overwhelming scent’ of hydrangeas that filled the banquet hall.

The heavy scent of fresh flowers that felt artificial. On top of that, the stuffy accumulation of spicy scents and burnt wood smells…. He thought that the scent of hydrangeas was the combination of all these competing elements.

Even after time passed and he learned that these flowers had no scent, even after realizing that what he had hated was actually the strong perfume from the guests….

Despite all these facts, he maintained his aversion to the non-existent ‘hydrangea scent’ to such an extent.

“Smile a bit, today is the last day.”

“…I’ll consider it when you disappear from my side.”

Derrick chuckled at Aiden’s fierce words.

“I’d hate that, Aiden.”

Derrick, who had seemed strangely excited since before the banquet began, had been lingering around Aiden continuously from the first day of the banquet until today, the last day.

It was uncharacteristic for a man known for his colorful history with women. He usually seduced women indiscriminately and drew them to his bed, often earning sharp glares from the duchess.

On such occasions, he would shield himself from the duchess’s lectures by claiming ‘free love’ as an unmarried man….

“Why don’t you go do your pathetic free love affairs?”

Why was he annoyingly sticking close? And even bringing along useless guards like shadows. Aiden glared at the knight standing silently not far away. He could sense that she had insufficient skills to be beside Derrick, a mage with the title of Sage. In fact, even if she were a Sword Master, she would be unnecessary personnel for Derrick.

Aiden’s blue eyes narrowed. The features of her sun-tanned, sturdy face were quite well-balanced. Because of this, he could guess why Derrick kept her by his side. He had never hesitated to lay hands on his own close associates in the past.

“Ah, are you already doing it?”

Derrick laughed at the sarcastic remark.

“Don’t take out your anger on the innocent knight, Aiden. I had a hard time getting her by my side after asking brother.”

“Are you saying she’s not your new love interest?”

“Of course not.”

Derrick acted as if he had heard something truly absurd. Even the knight, who had maintained an expressionless face, wrinkled her expression as if she had bitten something foul. Aiden’s eyes narrowed slightly at the unfiltered, overly honest reaction that seemed too frank to be shown in front of the master of the Hale family.

Of course, he didn’t add any further comments. He wasn’t in the mood to point out the knight’s insolence right now. He just wished the two annoying people by his side would disappear from his sight as soon as possible.

“Whatever, just get lost.”

But Derrick seemed to have no intention of granting Aiden’s wish.

“Thanks to me, the young ladies can’t approach you. Shouldn’t you be grateful?”

Derrick spoke with an air of conceit as he took a cocktail glass from a passing servant. Aiden let out a hollow laugh at this.

“I never asked you to block them. If it’s father’s wish, I’d rather get it over with quickly. So if that’s your reason, I really wish you’d leave.”

“Hmm? You’re more proactive than I thought? I expected you to throw a tantrum saying you wouldn’t marry anyone.”

“…Stop talking nonsense.”

“You really look like I’ve been blocking you for nothing. Strange….”

“I just thought that if it’s going to happen anyway, there’s no need to waste time.”

“Then which of the three young ladies do you prefer?”

“Does that matter?”

Aiden frowned as if he truly didn’t understand the importance. He hadn’t even looked at the personal information he had been given. He had just passed it to his aide and only heard the general information.

Even that, he hadn’t paid attention to and let it all slip by. He thought it didn’t matter which one he chose since they were all selected by the duke and duchess.

If not for Derrick’s interference, he planned to casually engage in conversation with the first young lady who spoke to him and set a date for a nominal engagement with her.

He planned to spend a leisurely vacation at May’s mansion until that date.

And if the engagement successfully led to marriage, he had thought about bringing May along, as he had considered before.

As Aiden reorganized his plan, Derrick, who had been silent for a moment, asked,

“So you’re not planning to go to that maid?”

Aiden’s face wrinkled even more at this. He didn’t respond, but Derrick easily read the meaning that appeared on Aiden’s face.

“Hmm… mutual fault then. Well, you’re not married, but still.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

Despite deliberately letting the words slip, Derrick closed his mouth as if it really was nothing. Aiden irritably glared at his second brother before giving up and sinking into thought.

‘…I hope he hasn’t brought anything else into the house.’

Derrick had only mentioned that there were two men in May’s mansion and hadn’t said anything else… but suddenly, a feeling similar to anxiety arose.

Still, today was the last day of the banquet, so that was fine.

He hadn’t had long conversations with the young ladies the duke had mentioned, but he had at least greeted them, so for a while, he wouldn’t be nagged about that topic.

Though he was annoyed with Derrick, he could blame this sluggish result on his interference.

As soon as midnight passes, he would go straight to the train station.

That was his planned schedule for the last day of the banquet. His blue eyes scanned the clock pointing to exactly ten o’clock. Thinking that there wasn’t much time left before he could see the maid’s face, her pitch-black round eyes instantly dominated his mind.

* * *

“…Wow, they’re beautiful!”

May broke into a broad smile as she looked at the flowers filling her arms.

“Th-thank you for buying them yourself…. If you had told me what flowers they were, I would have bought them myself….”

“It’s better to refrain from going out.”

May smiled gratefully at his gruff voice. She then looked down at the lush bouquet of roses and deeply inhaled their fragrance.

‘So these are the flowers my grandfather planted….’

Pink coral Lovarex roses. She had imagined something more powerful-looking since they were tended by a large man, but that was just her preconception. When she thought about the romantic flower meanings—vow of love, happy love—a bitterness rose within her.

Still, perhaps because her curiosity had been satisfied, she couldn’t help but smile. She thought about planting these by her grandfather’s side and tending to them beautifully.

Johan, who was beside her, smiled back at the beaming May.

“They suit you well, my lady.”

“Oh… thank you….”

May blushed with a happy face.

However, the somewhat harmonious atmosphere was suddenly scattered by the compass’s unexpected behavior.

‘…Why has it been acting like that?’

The compass had been hovering around Dominic, who had brought the flowers, for a while. It was visibly showing signs of joy.

When he had just handed the flowers to May, the golden light clusters that the compass was popping made his features momentarily invisible.

Suddenly, that strange object left Dominic’s side and began to bounce up and down.

In fact, this behavior wasn’t different from usual. But naturally, attention shifted to its urgent movement.

The golden energy stretched like a solid line and then began to point in one direction. May felt a sense of déjà vu as she rolled her eyes following that golden thread.

Come to think of it, when she first discovered the compass in the mansion and began to be tormented by it, asking ‘what do you want,’ it had behaved similarly.

‘That’s when I started seeing grandfather’s ghost….’

With that realization, her black eyes finally stopped at one spot.

Soon, her puzzled face showed great emotion, something that had been absent recently.

“……!”

‘Grandfather….’

Without knowing when it had happened, the old ghost had stopped digging and was standing by the window, watching them intently.

His sunken blue eyes were looking at the bright coral-colored flowers. May swallowed hard at the second change she had witnessed in the ghost.

Of course, she thought it might be the case, but it seemed that these flowers he had planted during his lifetime… were one of the mediums she had been trying to find.